The 29th annual “America’s Health Rankings” report found that obesity has reached a record high in the US as a whole, with the disease now affecting more than 30 percent of the adult population for the first time in UHF’s reporting. In California, the obesity rate stands significantly lower, at 23 percent. The report correlates a higher level of education to lower rates of obesity.

“Obesity prevalence is lower among college graduates than adults without a college degree,” the report states. College graduates nationwide were found to have a 23.3 percent rate of obesity, while individuals who had some college education but had not graduated had a 34.8 percent rate.

The nationwide suicide rate was found to be 16 percent higher than in 2012, contributing to an overall higher rate of mortality and premature death rates.

“More Americans are dying prematurely than in prior years,” the report states.

The report also found that drug deaths have increased nationwide since 2015 by 25 percent, from 13.5 to 16.9 age-adjusted deaths per 100,000 population. California ranks 8th healthiest in this category, with 11.9 drug deaths per 100,000 population. The California Department of Public Health, however, ranked Lake County 58th of 58 counties in California for drug-induced deaths in 2018, based on statistics from 2014–2016.

The UHF report states that “since 2007, the drug death rate increased significantly nationally, in the District of Columbia and in all but one state, Montana.” While West Virginia had the largest increase in that time, California had one of the lowest.

The report also found that child poverty rates were down across the nation by 6 percent below 2017’s data, making for a 19 percent drop in the past five years.

The report found Hawaii to be the healthiest of all 50 states and ranked Louisiana 50th. Now ranked just behind New Jersey, California saw one of the biggest rank increases from 2017 to 2018.

According to the report, California has the poorest air quality of all 50 states, low immunization coverage among children, and low Tdap vaccination (which fights tetanus, diptheria, and pertussis) rates among adolescents.

California was found to have the 49th lowest percentage of unoccupied housing units.

On the other hand, California has the 2nd lowest rate of premature death behind Minnesota, the 2nd lowest rate of occupational fatalities behind New York, and the 2nd lowest rate of smoking behind Utah, according to UHF.

Other areas in which California ranks in the top ten of all states on the healthy side include physical inactivity, prevalence of dentists, low birthweight, cancer deaths, frequent mental distress, infant mortality, and preventable hospitalizations.

United Health Foundation is a nonprofit created by UnitedHealth Group, a Minnesota-based health care company. The foundation states that its goal in producing its annual report is to “catalyze data-driven discussions that prompt positive change and improve health.”